The operator for Reading’s new ten-pin bowling alley has been revealed.

Hollywood Bowl has been chosen to take on the site at The Oracle and has submitted a licensing application to open from 11.30am to 1am, seven days a week.

The bowling alley will be one of several offerings replacing House of Fraser, with adventure golf and a food hall also planned.

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Reading Borough Council's (RBC) planning applications committee approved the plans for bowling, mini golf, a food hall and new shops to replace the department store in March.

Councillor Tony Page, lead member for Planning at RBC, praised the development at the meeting, saying: “This is a further vote of confidence in Reading town centre.

“Many shopping centres are at the point of going under and the part owners of this centre are retrenching elsewhere in the country.

“The provision of town centre bowling has been a very long aspiration. We look forward to the works commencing as soon as possible.”

As well as the bowling alley, the department store will be transformed into:

  • A food hall accessed from the riverside
  • Adventure golf
  • Retail shops on the lower ground floor and upper ground level
  • A retail shop or cafe on Bridge Street

House of Fraser has been at The Oracle since the shopping centre opened in 1999.

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Many of the troubled department store’s sites across the UK have closed in the last few years.

House of Fraser was rescued by Mike Ashley in a £90 million deal in 2018 but has continued to struggle, with the retail entrepreneur warning in late 2019 that more stores would close in 2020.